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ARGUMENT 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : 

I can truly say, it is with great diffidence that I appear before 
you this morning to make my argument in this important in- 
vestigation. I am accustomed to addressing juries generally composed 
of men of a different grade of intelligence, and with whom it is neces- 
sary to be much more diffuse, in order to present ideas clearly and 
reach their comprehension, than it will be in addressing you ; and if 
I shall sometimes dwell too long upon a point, or shall argue a point 
that has been clear to your minds from the beginning, it will be from 
the force of habit. I desire to say further, that in this argument I 
have no personal feeling, and I shall make a strong effort to keep my 
professional zeal so under control as to make no remark with refer- 
ence to Commissioner Bogy that is not fairly warranted by facts. If 
I at any time make use of an expression or argument that may 
seem harsh, it will only be because I feel compelled so to do from a 
sense of professional duty. 

In order to be perfectly fair with Mr. Bogy, and that he may know 
the line of argument which I propose to pursue in my summing up, 
I will state very fully the points upon which I shall rely in asking a 
report from this Committee adverse to his conduct as an officer. 

The resolution of the House, under which you are acting, is as 
follows : 

" Whereas the Commissioner of Indian Affairs did, on the 21st day 
<; of November, 1866, advertise for sealed proposals for supplying the 
" Indian service with certain goods, wares, and merchandise ; and 
" whereas it is reported that said Commissioner did, on the 18th day 
" of December, 1866, award the contract for supplying said goods, 
" wares, and merchandise on a bid much higher, and on samples in- 
" ferior to those offered by other parties : Therefore, 

" Be it resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be directed to 
" transmit to the House Committee on Indian Affairs the bids received 
"on the 15th day of December, 1866, by the Commissioner of Indian 
"Affairs, in compliance with the advertisement above referred to, and 
"the award made by him on the 18th day of December, 1866; and 
"all papers received by said Commissioner in any way relating to 
" said bids and award, together with all samples accompanying said 
" bids ; and that said Committee be instructed to examine into the acts 
" of said Commissioner, and report the result of their investigation to 
"the House; and, in the meantime, the Secretary of the Interior is 
" directed to suspend contracts based upon said award." 



4 

Mr. Bogy has constantly struggled to narrow this investigation to 
the one question : " Did he select poorer goods at a higher price ?" I 
do not think this narrow construction tenable. Indeed, in all matters 
involving a question of finances, the House of Representatives is the 
guardian of the American people; and, in any case which is brought 
to its attention, which in any way involves the expenditure of funds 
not yet appropriated, it is absurd to pretend that the House, or its Com- 
mittees, must be governed by any technical limitation. I shall, there- 
fore, in summing up this matter, call your attention, so far as time 
will permit, to all the evidence which tends to show that Mr. Bogy 
does not intend honestly to expend the funds which the House will 
shortly be called upon to appropriate for the Inaian service. You, 
gentlemen, as constituent parts of the House — you, whose special duty 
it is to look into all matters connected with Indian affairs, cannot, with 
the facts before you, take a less comprehensive view of the subject. 

Whichever this examination may show, fraud or gross incompetency 
on the part of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, is not a matter of mo- 
ment ; but one or the other must appear. He may choose for himself. If 
he is incompetent to discharge the duties of his important office, he should 
at once resign ; if the testimony shows that he -is not desirous, how- 
ever competent, to honestly perform the duties of the office, the power 
that placed him there, and the country should be advised of the fact. 

I think the testimony will show — 

1st. That in procuring the withdrawal of Mr. Cooley's advertise- 
ment, and the substitution of his own, Mr. Bogy either did not com- 
prehend the necessary result of his own official acts, or he intended a 
fraud. 

2d. That in making the award to Bates and Farwell, he did so 
either owing to inexcusable ignorance, or with fradulent intentions. 
In the resume which I propose to make of the testimony, I will touch 
upon the following points : 

That the practice of the Indian office has been almost uniformly to 
receive bids upon standard samples on file in the office. 

That the abandonment of that practice by Commissioner Bogy, 
opened the door for the exercise of favoritism, such as the evidence in 
this case clearly discloses. 

For instance, in each of the three classes awarded, the difference in 
the bids is exhibited by the following table, showing that, in the aggre- 
gate of the three classes, Mr. Bogy had a margin of $569,149.00 for 
the exercise of folly, favoritism, or fraud, as might be his capacity or 
disposition : 

First Class — Blankets. 

Highest bid $171,353 00 

Lowest bid 51,760 00 

Difference $119,593 00 

Second Class — Cloths. 

Highest bid $49,490 00 

Lowest bid 28 ; 700 00 

$20,790 00 



5 

Third Class — Dry Goods. 

Highest bid $125,005 

Lowest bid 69,005 

5(3,000 
Total Differences. 

First class difference in bids... $119,593 00 

Second class difference in bids 20,790 00 

Third class difference in bids 56,000. 00 



$195,388 00 
Triplicate same 3 



Grand total $589,149 00 

That several articles, among the most common, useful, and necessary 
for the Indian service, have been excluded from Commissioner Bogy's 
advertisement, which, by the evidence, it appears, have been uniformly- 
estimated for and required by the several Superintendents. 

That it does not appear from the evidence that any Superintendent 
has, at any time, estimated for a single yard of " red striped bed tick- 
ing," while the advertisement invites proposals for 50,000 yards of 
that article, and the Commissioner is bound to take that amount, 
whether called for by Superintendents or not, by his own testimony ; 
he having stricken from the advertisement the customary provision 
which would authorize him to take a less amount, if not required by 
the service. 

That the act of July 5, 1862, expressly and plainly prohibits the Com- 
missioner from purchasing any article for the Indian service which 
has not been estimated for by Superintendents. I especially call the 
attention of Mr. Bogv to this law, as I desire to hear his construction 
of it. 

That the system of bidding inaugurated by the present Commis- 
sioner, compelling each bidder to furnish a sample on which to bid, 
entirely defeats the object aimed at in inviting sealed bids, as no com- 
petition can take place between bidders who bid upon different sam- 
ples of different qualities. The Commissioner might as well visit the 
stores and manufactories of the bidders and there select the goods, 
having a regard both to price and quality, as to make his selection 
from small samples of the same goods furnished by the same parties 
at the Indian Office. 

It is apparent that the whole matter of sealed bids is a farce under 
Mr. Bogy's plan, intended to attract the eye of the public, but not to 
have the slightest practical influence in determining the awards. 

That by his own testimony, the Commissioner admits that, in making 
the award to Mr. Bates, he was to some extent, at least, governed by 
a desire to prefer goods of American manufacture — a preference 
which he had no legal right to make. 

That taking it upon the ground that such a preference was not only 
proper, but legally right, the evidence clearly proves not only that 



6 

the blankets of Messrs. Evans and McK night were of American manu- 
facture, but that thev were as good, and at a much less price than 
Bates'. 

That the weight of evidence shows that, taken as a whole, the 
samples of Messrs. Stettauer & Bro. are better than those of Messrs. 
Bates and Farwell, (the parties to whom the contract was awarded,) 
while their aggregate bid is less by the sum of $107,000 provided 
the amount advertised for be triplicated — a right reserved by Mr. 
Bogy. 

That the Commissioner claims that he excluded certain articles from 
his advertisement because they were not required by the service, 
while the only purchases made by him for the Indian service are made 
up largely of these excluded articles, and at prices much higher than 
were paid last year ; and further, that in both of the purchases refer- 
red to, he employed his own relatives, (son and brother) as agents of 
the Department. 

That by his own testimony he rejected the bid of Messrs. Buckley, 
Sheldon & Co., on the ground that they had failed or refused to com- 
ply with the stipulations of a former contract with the Government — 
a charge which he utterly fails to find one word of evidence, either 
written or oral, to substantiate. That his action in that matter was 
therefore wholly unwarranted, and clearly vitiated the entire letting. 

That the main evidence upon which the Commissioner relies to 
justify his award, is that of John Dobson and S. Wilson, who, by their 
own testimony, are interested in the sum of nearly $44,000 in favor 
of Mr. Bates, and against Messrs. Stettauer & Bro., the lowest aggregate 
bidders for the contract. 

That the chemical test made by Mr. Dennis in presence of the Com- 
mittee, demonstrates that Mr. Dobson's statement that there was no log- 
wood in Mr. Bates' blanket, except in the " heading," is erroneous ; 
and that therefore, it is scarcely safe to rely upon all his statements 
relative to quality, &c, when opposed or contradicted by the sworn 
testimony of competent experts, who have no possible interest in the 
contract. 

That Mr. Burleigh, another witness relied upon by the Commis- 
sioner, has been an Indian Agent — that his official conduct has three 
times been investigated — twice by order of Congress, and once by order 
of President Lincoln ; and that two of these reports have been of a very 
unfavorable character, and that Mr. Burleigh has now a large amount 
in the shape of suspended accounts pending before Commissioner Bogy 
for allowance. 

That all the experts subpoenaed from New York, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, and Washington, who have no interest in the award, agree 
that it is erroneous. 

That for second and third class goods, Messrs. Stettauer & Bro. are 
much below Messrs. Bates and Farwell in their bids, while the weight 
of evidence shows that their samples are the best on file in the Depart- 
ment. 

That Mr. Jonas, the Inspector appointed by Commissioner Bogy to 
examine the samples ; and assist in the award, is entirely incompetent 



for that position, and that his veracity stands clearly impeached before 
this Committee, by the testimony of several disinterested witnesses, 
and, as I shall hereafter show, by his own testimony. 

That Mr. White, who was ordered into the sample room to assist in 
the examination of the goods, and who is now an employe of the Inte- 
rior Department, states, on his oath, that the award, in his judgment, 
was erroneous and improper, and that he so told Mr. Bogy. (Mr. 
White has been connected with the Interior Department since 1849, 
and is an intelligent, reliable man, whose veracity Comm.ssioner 
Bogy will scarcely dare to call in question.) 

Since the close of the testimony in this case, I have been informed 
that before Judge Cooley advertised for Indian goods he procured 
standard samples of every article for which he advertised. These sam- 
ples were left in the office by Commissioner Cooley, and were there 
when Mr. Bogy took possession. I had a witness on the stand who 
procured the samples of hardware in New York, but not knowing the 
fact, I did not question him in regard to the matter. I now assert 
that these samples were in the Indian Office when Mr. Bogy came in, 
and that he either gave them away or destroyed them. If he makes 
an issue of veracity on this, I desire that the Committee shall, if deemed 
necessary, take measures to satisfy themselves on the subject. 

I shall take the ground, therefore, from the evidence that the award 
to Mr. Bates of the first and second class, and to Mr. Farwell of the 
third class of good«, should be set aside, because it appears thtt the 
samples of Messrs. Stettauer & Bro., throughout, compare with the 
samples on which the award was made, as follows : 

First Class, (Blankets.) 

Bates's bid $108,625 

Siettauer's bid 90,045 

Difference in bids $18,580 

Difference in market value, as shown by the evidence.. 6,505 

Stettauer lower than Bates $12,075 

Triplicate the same 3 

$36,225 
Making a difference against the Indians and the Government, if the 
contract is given to Bates, of $36,225 on blankets. 

Second Class, (Cloths.) 

Bates's bid $37,500 

Stettauer's bid 28.700 

Difference in bids $8,800 

Stettauer better than Bates, by the evidence 750 

Difference in favor of Stettauer $9,550 

Triplicate the same , 3 

$28,650 



8 

Making an actual loss to the Government and the Indians, if Bates- 
gets the contract, of $28,650. 

Third Class, (Dry Goods.) 

Farwell's bid , $79,705 

Stettauer's bid 69,395 

Difference in bids „ $10,319 

Stettauer better than Far well, by the evidence 3,770 

Difference in favor of Stettauer $14,080 

Triplicate same i. 3 

$•±2,240 
Making a loss 1o the Indians and the Government, in case Far well 
gets the contract, of $42,240 on dry goods. 

[Recapitulation. 

If these contracts are entered into according to the award of Com- 
missioner Bogy, the losses to the Indians and the Government will be : 

On blankets.." $36,225 

On cloths . 1 28,650 

On dry goods 42,210 

$107,115 

Taking the 1st class of Evans r , the 2d and 3d of Stettauer's (Evan's 
being wholly domestic manufacture, and as good as Bates by the evi- 
dence,) and they compare with the samples on which the award was 
made, as follows : 

Evans' 1st class, (wholly domestic) $94,275 

Stettauer's 2d class 28,700 

Stettauer's 3d class 69,395 

$192,370 

Bates' 1st class $108,625 

Bates' 2d class 37,580 

Farwell's 3d class „ 79,705 

$225,830 
192,370 



$33,460 
Triplicate sum .- — ... 3 

Total difference or loss to Government - $100,380 

But, by the evidence, Stettauer's 2d class is better than the award by 
$750, and his 3d class is better than the award by $3,770, or, together, 
by S4,520. Triplicate the same and we have $13,560 as the extra 
value of Stettauer's 2d and 3d over Bogy's award. Add that to 



9 

$105,380, and we have, as the loss to the Government on the Bogy 
award as against Evans & Stettauer, the sum of $113,940. 

Making the same comparison between McKnight's bid and Bogy's 
award, and the figures are as follows : 

Taking the 1st class of McKnights, the 2d and 3d of Stettauer's, 
(McKnight's being wholly domestic manufacture, and as good as Bates' 
by the evidence,) and they compare with the samples on which the 
award was made, as follows : 

McKnight's 1st class (wholly domestic) $96,392 50 

Stettauer's 2d class 28,700 00 

Stettauer's 3d class 69,395 00 

$194,487 50 

Bates & Harwell $225,830 00 

McKnight & Stettauer . 194,487 50 

Difference $31,342 50 

Triplicate 3 



Difference or loss to Government $94,027 50 

Add to this $13,560, (Stettauer's 2d and 3d class being so much 
better than those to which the award was given,) and we have a dif- 
ference or loss to the Government of $10/, 587. 50. 

Taking Mr. Stettauer's 1st class to be equally as good as Mr. Bates' 
for Indian service, as the weight of evidence here will warrant, and 
we have the following exhibit as between Stettauer's bid and that on 
which the award was made : 

First Class. 

Bates' bid $108,625 

Stettauer's bid.. 90,045 

$18,580 
Triplicate , 3 



$55,740 

Second Class. 

Bates' bid $37,500 

Stettauer's bid 28,700 

Difference, $8,800 

Stettauer's better than Bates' 750 

Difference 9,550 

Triplicate 3 

$28,650 



10 

Third Class. 

Farwell $79,705 

Stettauer 69,395 

Difference in favor of Stettauer $10,310 

Stettauer better than Farwell 3,770 

Difference $14,080 

Triplicate 3 

$42,240 
Summary. 

1st class in favor of Stettauer $55,740 

2d class in favor of Stettauer 28,650 

3d class in favor of Stettauer 42,240 

In favor of Stettauer or loss to Government $126,630 

This enormous loss of money must result to the Government if Mr. 
Bogy's awards are carried out. My time is so limited that I have not 
been able to do more in my opening than touch upon the points I in- 
tend to discuss, and present the startling array of figures contained in 
these tables for the Commissioner to examine and discuss, if he sees 
fit to do so. Of course, I shall argue that it is your duty to set aside 
the awards to Bates and Farwell, and take such other and further 
action to protect the interest of the Indians and of the Government as 
shall seern to you necessary and proper, in view of the evidence elicited 
in this examination. 

Washington, D. C, Tuesday, January 15, 1.867. 

Mr. Bogy having concluded his argument, Mr. Davis continued, as 
follows: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

I know that your patience is well nigh exhausted, and I shall be as 
brief as the actual necessities of the case will permit. I have assumed a re- 
sponsibility in appearing for several gentlemen who believe that they 
have been outraged by the making of these awards, and I cannot feel 
that I have discharged my duty as an attorney unless I call your at- 
tention, at least briefly, to some of the main points in the case, which 
tend so strongly to reflect upon the official action of Mr. Bogy. 

Permit me to say, at the outset, that I have labored under certain 
disadvantages in conducting this examination as compared with Mr. 
Bogy. For instance, Mr. Bogy has let contracts amounting in the 
aggregate to the sum of $677,490. Mr. Bates and Mr. Farwell, to 
whom he let these contracts, have been constantly in this room, deep- 
ly interested, of course, in sustaining both the awards and Mr. Bogy. 
Their profits, whatever they may be on these awards, are involved, 
and I think I shall show before I close that Mr. Bates and Mr. Far- 
well have a margin of profits on these contracts of more than $100,000 
over and above the profits which any other bidder asked on corres- 



11 

ponding goods. The weight of evidence, indeed, goes to show such 
profits to be $126,000. 

It would not take a large per centage on such contracts to supply- 
Mr. Bogy, and the parties interested in sustaining the awards, with 
sufficient means to produce here all the witnesses they could find to 
sanction Mr. Bogy's action. 

Mr. Bogy had another advantage, and a very decided one. He was 
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and had charge of all the records 
and papers in that office. He had all the clerks of that office at his 
command, and could at any time, morning, noon, or night, put him- 
self in connection with all the important documents and evidence in 
the Indian Bureau. Before I get through, I shall have occasion, in 
detailing the way in which the Indian Office is managed, to mention 
some of the annoyances to which I was subjected in endeavoring to get 
documentary evidence when it was under Mr. Bogy's control. These, 
gentlemen, are some of the advantages which Mr. Bogy had over me, 
besides his pre-eminent abilities as a lawyer, and his unsurpassed 
eloquence in pleading his cause. You, gentlemen, could not have 
been more charmed than I was with the eloquent remarks of Mr. 
Bogy. You could not have been better pleased with his glow- 
ing picture of the wrongs the Indians have suffered, and the duties that 
devolve upon the Government with reference to these "children of the 
desert." Permit me to say, that I do not expect to rival him in elo- 
quence. I shall not attempt it. I agree with him that the Indians 
have not been fairly dealt with. But the question here is not whether 
the Indians have been fairly dealt with, but whether Mr. Bogy has 
been and is fairly dealing with them and the Government ; and I pro- 
pose to confine myself entirely to the evidence bearing upon that 
question. 

There are one or two features of Mr. Bogy's speech to which I 
wish to call your attention. 

He pretended to read his own evidence and that of two or three 
other witnesses, which he said entirely vindicated his action,, but 
failed to read my cross-examination of the same witnesses. 

lie said he wished to incorporate this testimony in his speech, that 
"his friends and the world" might see that his character was vindi- 
cated. It is evident that Mr. Bogy expects his eloquent remarks to 
be more widely read than the mass of evidence taken before you. 
Did it not occur to him that "his iriends and the world," in order to 
be thoroughly satisfied with the evidence quoted, would demand it 
entire, and not garbled and distorted extracts ? It will only be neces- 
sary for those who read the evidence incorporated in his speech to 
read my cross-examination of the witnesses upon whom he relies, in 
order to give it the weight to which it is justly entitled. Let them, 
also, observe the lengthy and leading questions which the Commissioner 
asked his witnesses, and mark the reluctant Yes and No which respond 
to his artful and adroit interrogatories. 

There is another feature of Mr. Bogy's address to which I wish to call 
your especial attention. Towards the close of his remarks, he denounced 
the gentlemen who bid against Bates and Far well for the contracts, in 



12 

the very strongest possible terms. I call your attention to the fact 
that the notes of the stenographer will show that he denounced them 
as "swindlers, thieves, and robbers." I tried to have mm name them 
and discriminate, but he would not do so. Perhaps, therefore, I may 
as well call your attention to the names of the men whom Mr. Bogy 
dared to denounce in such strong terms in his sweeping remarks. They 
are such men as George 0. Evans, W. S. McKnight, Zebulon Moore, 
Buckley, Sheldon k Co.,.Stettauer k Bro., Perry, Fuller k Co., Kent 
Owen, Miles Sells, Drinkard k Anderson, J. H. B. Fairman, George 
Edwards. Chas. McGuck, and J. G. Fitzpatrick k Co. These are some of 
the men who put in bids in good faith, and feel themselves aggrieved 
by Mr. Bogy's award. Mr. Bogy says that the witnesses whom we 
brought here were interested witnesses, men who expected to sell 
goods to bidders, (except Bates and Farwell,) if they got the con- 
tract. He says that they came here with diamonds and rings, gaudily 
dressed, to aid "swindlers, thieves, and robbers" in putting frauds upon 
the Government. Gentlemen, who are the men whom Mr. Bogy dare3. 
to denounce here in such strong terms ? Look at the list of our wit- 
nesses — N. Streeter, Jr., of Joseph B. Lee k Co., of New York, a house 
well and favorably known throughout the country ; W. H. Davis, of 
the house of H. B. Claflin k Co., a house that sells more goods than any 
other in the country j which pays the highest amount ot internal rev- 
enue of any house in the United States, and that stands pre-eminently 
at the head of the mercantile establishments of the country. Edward 
Cochrane, of the house of Cochrane, Costar k Co., of New York, well 
known, and of the highest reputation ; Seth Keyes. United States Govern- 
ment Inspector, in New York, who has been a Government Inspector 
for four years, and who testified that he had inspected alone millions 
of dollars worth of blankets, and that no fault was ever found with his 
omchil conduct; Neal Campbell, United States Government Inspector 
of Philadelphia, who tells you that he has inspected a million of blank- 
ets for the United States Government; Ashton S. II. White, a clerk in 
the Interior Department since 1849 ; Perry Fuller, an opulent mer- 
chat and banker of New York, and known throughout the whole 
country for his integrity, intelligence, and liberality; George 0. Ev- 
ans, J. G. Pitzpatrick, Augustus F. Perry, for thirty years a merchant 
of this city ; Col. E. B. Taylor, late Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 
and Mr. Johns:on, late head of the finance division of the Indian Office. 
Such, gentlemen, are the witnesses who, he asserts, have come here 
to aid, by their sworn evidence, in swindling the Government. He 
describes them as coming with " diamonds and rings," as if they 
were merchantable and marketable witnesses. He goes further. He 
says that this Indian Office, up to the time he came into it, was a "fes- 
tering mass of corruption." Whom does be reach in that broad and 
sweeping charge? How much of it bears down upon his own wit- 
ness, Charles E. Mix, the chief clerk and chief adviser in that office 
for the last thirty years? When he says that that office has been a 
festering mass of corruption, how near does he come home, I repeat, 
to his own chief witness, whose evidence he read and incorporated 
entirely in his speech ? How near does he come to Hon. 0. H. Brown- 



13 

ing, to Hon. James Harlan, Judge D. N. Cooley, Hon. W. T. Dole, 
and the other officers now or heretofore connected with that bureau ? 

But, I ask, do not these wholesale charges of Mr. Bogy reach even 
further? Who instituted this investigation? Turn to the record of the 
House of Representatives, and you will find that it was ordered by 
that honorable body. Does he intend to charge that the House of 
Representatives is also abetting "swindlers, thieves, and robbers," in 
their efforts to defraud the Government? 

Mr. Chairman, after hurling Ivs denunciations with powerful rheto- 
ric against all these bidders, all these witnesses, and all these officers 
of the Interior Department and the Indian Bureau, and perhaps reach- 
ing to Congress, he very appropriately, it seems to me, capped the cli- 
max of his eloquence by making a quotation from one of the Greek 
writers. He said that Aristophenes had said that "a man with a rot- 
ten nose smelled corruption everywhere." Gentlemen, 1 think there 
was appropriateness in Mr. Bogy's making this quotation, but let me 
suggest to him that the point is lost when it is sought to apply it to 
the man who simply goes to work to ascertain by evidence where 
fraud exists, and how it may be unmasked. The force of the quota- 
tion appears wh.en you apply it to the man who makes wholesale 
charges of swindling, theft, and robbery without a particle of evidence 
to justify them. Such a man may, indeed, be said to " smell corruption 
everywhere." 

He went so far as to denounce a contract for the removal of the Wi- 
chita Indians, and also to denounce the agent and friend of the con- 
tractor, who, he said, was a corrupt and bad man. I asked him the 
name, for I knew something of that transaction, and I wished to have 
it known what kind of men Mr. Bogy was assailing, but he would not 
give it; and I believe, knowing the reputation of the man he so cov- 
ertly assailed, he dared not give it. 

I say that Mr. Bogy had no evidence whatever to sustain him in 
any of these charges. They were all gratuitous, and I can scarcely 
see how he excuses himself in indulging in them, except by way of 
making pertinent his elegant extract from Aristophenes. 

Mr. Chairman, I shall make no such wholesale denunciations, I am 
going to see if I can find corruption in the Indian Office by the evi- 
dence we have before us ; and if I do not find it by the evidence, I 
will be as ready as any of you to vindicate the character of Mr. Bogy 
or that of any other gentleman implicated in these transactions. 

It became necessary, Mr. Chairman, that some goods should be 
bought for the Indians. Judge Cooley, the late Commissioner, issued 
an advertisement, by which he called on parties to come forward and 
bid on samples in the Indian Office. 

Now, gentlemen, I wish to call your attention to this fact, that by 
this old system (and Mr. Bogy himself, has sworn that it was the es- 
tablished system adhered to almost without exception,) parties were 
invited to come and say what they W)uld furnish goods for according 
to a standard sample. Grant, gentlemen, that you are not merchants, 
manufacturers, or judges of goods ; that you are perhaps lawyers, 
doctors or farmers, yet, if one of you were Indian Commissioner you 



14 

could, according to Mr. Cooley's advertisement, step into the Indian 
Office, and do justice both to the Government and to the Indians, in 
the pnrchase of Indian goods. Let us see, Mr. Cooley wants Indian 
blankets. He goes to New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, or 
St. Louis, looks through the market and finds such a blanket as he 
thinks suitable for the purpose desired. Suppose he is not familiar 
with blankets, and with the mode of their manufacture, how easy for 
him to call a disinterested expert to his aid, and say to him, " examine 
this blanket for me, and tell me whether it is of good material and 
well woven, whether it is indigo dyed, or logwood dyed." How easy 
for him to go to Mr. Perry, of this city, who was called here as a 
witness, or to Wm. H. Davis, who stands at the head of the blanket 
department of the house of H. B. Claflin & Co., of New York, or to 
any one of a hundred men like them, and ascertain precisely the nature 
and value of the blanket, and whether it is a suitable blanket for In- 
dian use. How easy, then, for him to hold out that blanket in the 
Indian Office as a standard sample, and allow bidders to come from all 
parts of the country and examine it. These bidders are experts, and 
every one of them knows precisely what it costs to make a blanket like 
the sample, or to purchase it in the open market. The bidders then 
put in sealed bids. John Doe says he will furnish the required num- 
ber at $10 a pair, and Eichard Roe offers to furnish them at $9.90 a 
pair. Richard Roe gets the contract, without a question. He is only 
required to give sufficient bonds to carry it out in good faith. There 
is no intricate question to decide. Each invoice of Indian goods, 
according to Mr. Cooley's advertisement, is selected in the same simple 
manner. The system is easy to comprehend — easy to put in practice, 
and cannot fail to secure substantial justice on all hands. An invoice 
of blankets is sent in by Mr. Richard Roe, under this contract. Sup- 
pose the Commissioner cannot tell whether they are just as i;ood as 
the sample, how easy for him again to call in an expert, and ask him 
to examine the goods, and tell him whether they are as well woven, as 
well colored, and of as good a fabric, as the sample. I appeal to you, 
Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the Committee, if it is not a very 
simple matter, according to Mr. Cooley's advertisement, to publish 
your notice, exhibit your samples, receive your bids, give the contract 
to the lowest bidder, and make the best bargain for the Indians, and 
for the Government. 

Now, we come to Mr. Bogy's advertisement. Mr. Bogy, before he 
takes possession of the office — the moment he gets word that he 
is to be Commissioner of Indian Affairs, rushes to the Secretary 
of the Interior, according to his own e\idence, and calls in this simple, 
ordinary, and timely notice of Mr. Cooley, stating to the Secretary of 
the Interior, substantially, that he has come there upon a missionary 
enterprise to reform that Department of the Government. " Take in 
this customary notice," says Mr. Bogy, " this notice which makes it 
so simple for me to discharge my duties faithfully, and I will put 
another notice in its place which will effect a radical reform." He pub- 
lishes his advertisement, in which he says, u Samples of all articles to 
be forwarded to this Office with the proposals." This is the chief 
change in the notice to bidders. Let us mark the result of that change. 



15 

Twenty-seven bids, and twenty-seven samples of each kind of goods 
advertised for, have been brought here and deposited. All these sam- 
ples are spread out m the Indian Office. Ilere is a great mercantile 
fair instituted. All the merchants of the country have been invited 
to bring in their goods, wares, and merchandise, in order that com- 
parisons may be made and the most suitable articles for the Indians 
selected. Now, Mr. Chairman, I ask you to shut out from your mind 
for a moment all the evidence received here and tell me if Mr. Bogy- 
went into that Indian Office with perfectly honest intentions, and called 
back Mr. Cooley's advertisement for the sake of reform, as he says he 
did ; if he got up this mercantile fair, bringing in all these goods, 
wares, and merchandise for examination, with honest intentions, I 
ask you if you can believe otherwise than that Mr. Bogy is a judge of 
goods? Here are twenty-seven samples of blankets, twenty-seven 
samples of shawls, &c. Mr. Bogy has invited them here because he 
wants to reform the Indian Office. Now, can there be any doubt that 
he is a good judge of goods? And yet you must agree with me that 
he will not make this award until he goes out and calls in at least three 
experts to act with him ; and these experts will be men not only of the 
highest possible standing professionally — not only honest, intelligent, 
experts, but men of wealth and character — men entirely above any 
temptation to show favoritism or perpetrate a fraud. Would you, or 
I, or anybody else, who went into that Office, believing it to be a 
" festering mass of corruption," and intending to inaugurate such radi- 
cal reforms as these, have ever taken the responsibility of deciding on 
more than twenty -seven samples without calling at least three such 
men to our aid? 

I say, then, Mr. Chairman, that, having called in three experts, 
and Mr. Bogy himself being qualified to judge — suppose that some 
" swindlers, thieves, and robbers " were not satisfied with the award ; 
suppose some of these men who Mr. Bogy tells us are endeavoring to 
defraud the Government, attempt to get up an investigation, is it 
not clear that Mr. Bogy, without delay, will send to New York, Phila- 
delphia, and all the great cities and bring here merchants and manu- 
facturers of the highest character and ability to vendicate his action ? 

You were, doubtless, prepared when this investigation commenced, 
and when Mr. Bogy proceeded to call his witnesses, to see men 
coming here from H. B. Claffin & Co's, from A. T. Stewart's, and from 
all over the country — disinterested experts — and all testifying that Mr. 
Bogy had made a fair and honest award. 

Let us now see the actual workings of this reform movement. Mr. 
Bogy invents this mercantile fair, and brings in all these goods, wares, 
and merchandise. lie selects his men to make the examination. Who 
are they ? Mr. Bogy himself, Mr. Jonas, a young man 28 years of age, 
whose more recent history is simply this : that he was discharged from 
the Quartermaster General's Department for disloyalty, and from the 
Auditor's Office for want of fidelity to his duty. lie is brought in by 
Mr. Bogy as a judge in this mercantile fair. Who else ? Mr. Mix, Mr. 
Wilson, and Colonel Bent. If any one else was there it has not 
transpired, for A. S. H. White swears he was excluded by Mr. Bogy. 



16 

Gentlemen, I want to test for a single moment the qualification of these 
individuals to assist Mr. Bogy in making a proper award. I want to 
see whether Mr.- Bogy selected such experts as would indicate that he 
was acting in good faith. Mr. Bogy himself, who should have known 
something about goods, pleads the baby-act in the very first page of 
his cross-examination. He swears that he was ignorant of the subject. 
What! a missionary reluctantly leaving his home in St. Louis ; forced 
by the public necessities to come here and try to reform this Office, 
that was such a "festering mass of corruption," and to inaugurate the 
most radical changes possible; and, yet, in the very first page of his 
cross-examination, saying, "I did not know anything about it." Mr. 
Bogy, then, so far from being a judge of goods, knows nothing about 
them. Let him, then, for the present, stand aside. Mr. Mix is called 
in to assist him. Mr. Mix swears " I was no expert ; I was not a 
judge of the goods." Mr. Mix, you may stand aside! Who is the 
next man that he calls in ? Mr. Wilson, of Philadelphia. Gentlemen, 
there is a peculiarity about Wilson being present at all that I am going 
to speak of hereafter ; but now I wish simply to show the interest that 
he had in the transaction. This Mr Wilson, the third man called in 
by Mr. Bogy to decide upon these goods, is the agent of John Dobson. 
John Dobson is the manufacturer of Bates' blankets. Bates is the 
man who gets the award under Bogy. And Bogy sends for Wilson 
to come and help him to make the award. Now, Mr. Bates' award 
amounts to the sum of $325,875. On this amount Wilson receives, bv 
his own evidence, 3 J per cent., if Bates gets the contract, which makes 
the snug little sum of $11,405.62}. This is the man whom Mr. Bogy gets 
for his third expert to help him reform the Indian Bureau, and make 
an honest award among these merchants — a judge having an interest 
in the award to the amount of $11,405.62} in the Bates blanket, and 
of course Bates gets the award. 

But he had another man there, Colonel Bent, an Indian trader. He 
is the same Col. Bent who took goods to the Arapahoe country, trans- 
ferred them over to Col. Butterfield, who, in turn, sold them to Charles 
Bogy, brother of Lewis V. Bogy, who, as Indian Commissioner, calls in 
Col. Bent to aid him in this important decision. Col. Bent has lived all 
his life three or four hundred miles beyond the pale of civilization. 
Now, mark, Mr. Bogy does not send for a merchant of Washington, 
of Boston, of Philadelphia, of New York, of Chicago, of St. Louis, or 
anywhere else, but he goes away out to the Arapahoe country and 
finds a man there who, it happens, turned over his goods to Butter- 
field, which goods Butterfield turned over to Chas. Bogy ; and this is 
the third man whom Mr. Bogy calls in to assist him in the Indian 
Office. That transaction of Bent, Butterfield, and Charles Bogy ] 
will ventilate in a few moments. 

I should here remark, that it is in evidence that this Col. Bent has' 
large claims now pending before Commissioner Bogy, upon the rejec 
tion or payment of which Bogy is the judge, whose decision is final 
and that the business of Col. Bent in this City at the present time, ai 
shown by his own evidence, is the collection of those identical claims 

But, Mr. Jonas is the chosen expert of Mr. Bogy — the man upo: 
w r hom he claims principally to have relied — the young man 28 year 



17 

of age to-day — the young man who started in life in a hardware store, 
at a salary of $150 a year, who, from that hardware store, at $150 a 
year, gets down to New Orleans into a cotton-broker's office, and stays 
there until he arrives at a salary of $1,500 a year — the highest he ever 
did get ; and that only from a brother and an uncle. He says he 
bought in his trade as a cotton broker some dry goods for the negroes 
at New Orleans ; and that is all the qualification for this position 
he claimed to have. But, mind you, that qualification existed only up 
to the time he left New Orleans. He afterwards enlisted for a bounty 
of $700, and then got into the Quartermaster General's office. How 
shortly that was after he received his bounty I cannot say, but I know 
he stayed there a while, and was turned out for disloyalty ; and I know 
that he was subsequently turned out of the Auditor's office (where he 
had a salary of $1,200 per year) for lack of fidelity to duty. He is the 
fifth man — the great expert — on whom this missionary from St. Louis 
proposes to rest his awards in this mercantile fair. I say, therefore, 
gentlemen, that the men whom Mr. Bogy had with him to assist in 
making his awards, were not the men whom, if he had these high-toned 
intentions which he has so often claimed, he would have chosen. He 
should have known, and any merchant in this city, or elsewhere, would 
have told him, that there has been such a revolution in the qualities 
and prices of all kinds of goods within the last four or five years, 
(since the war commenced,) that any man who had been entirely out 
of the business during that time would have been almost wholly in- 
competent to judge even if he had been an expert before the war. But 
here is a young man but 28 years old to-day, with such a record as this 
young man has, and he is to be the expert and have the chief voice in 
making Bogy's decision. I claim that Mr. Bogy should have refused 
Mr. Wilson admission to that sample room. He was an interested 
party. He should have refused Col. Bent admission ; because, if he 
wanted any one there, he should have procured a man of ability as an 
expert, and one who had not been at all mixed up in Indian specula- 
tions with the brother of Mr. Bogy. He should have found somebody 
besides Charles E. Mix, for Charles E. Mix would have told him then 
what he has sworn to here — that he was not an expert. 

Gentlemen, Mr. Bogy made his award. A resolution passed the House 
of Representatives calling upon him to vindicate that award. Whom did 
he summon to justify his action ? He said the first day of this examina- 
tion that his character was assailed. I have shown to you that he had 
Bates and Farwell at his elbow with an award, out of which each of 
them can retire wealthy, if they can succeed in maintaining it. He 
had the Indian Office at his back, with all its clerks. A small per cent, of 
the profits on those awards would have made an immense fund for bring- 
ing witnesses here to justify Mr. Bogy's action, if any could be found. 
This Committee would have given him subpoenas. Who are the wit- 
nesses that, with all these advantages, he brings ? Lewis V. Bogy, Mr. 
Jonas, Mr. Mix, Col. Bent, Dr. Burleigh, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Walker, and 
John Dobson — John Dobson who made these Bates blankets — John 
Dobson who, the very moment Mr. Bogy takes possession of the Indian 
Office, goes to manufacturing six blankets, especially as samples, better, 



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19 

who lias an In/Han wife and lives with the Two-Kettle band, came down to get 
sodih g - it the trader Lad none that he wanted, and La Franibois then said lie 
would go below and get some goods to trade with the Indians ; hut Dr. Burleigh told 
him not to go, and that he could have the hlankets. calico, scarlet cloth, and all kinds 
of cloth that had Been kept for fall, and for the old and the poor. I told him if he 
paid for them I coaid say nothing, and he look them and carried them away. The next 
spring he came back and I asked him tor the pay for the goods ; there were $1,700 
wortk ; but he said he could not pay for them, as he had paid Dr. Burleigh for them. 
Then I took the chiefs to Dr. Burleigh and told him to pay us the money Le received 
from La Frambois for onr goods ; but he said he had got no money." 

* * * * * * * *"* * 

{i 1 think all the work Dr. Bnrleigh had done was done for himself. He purchased 
lots of cattle and things. When he came there he only had a trunk, hut now he is 
high up — rich. Once in a while I went and a*ked Dr. Burleigh about the money, and 
-aved it for all the Indians, and we did not get it." 

••When Agent Cunger came there he and Dr. Burleigh were together. We felt we 
had to See him with the new agent. We went and told Dr. Burleigh that we wanted 
him to give us the money which he had taken from ns, but he would not. I told him 
if he did not I would tell my gr _ Uather when I went to see him. " 

* * *"* * * # * * * 

"The - : r~ .rent has come, hut he is like a man in the middle of the prairie. Bur- 
leigh cleaned the agency of everything, and the new agent has nothing to go on with; 
no cattle, no wagons, no plougbs. iu fact nothing. Everything has melted away like a 
snow bank in the summer's sun. I think our grandfather don't know what is done 
with the money from what you say to ns to-day." 

" The Man that was Struck by the Ree," another chief of the same 
tribe, testities before Judge Hubbard : 

" 1 think if you come up to our agency you will laugh in the first place, and then be 
mad to See our storehouse in the same building with the trader's store. I want the 
store moved away a mile, so that it won't be so bandy to our go dqs ; I want you to have 
this changed. I hope my grandfather will see that the store is moved away fi om my 
vraMhosae, 1: -cause the trader's store is under the h\oor where my goods are stored. I 
sometimes have bad dreams ; I feel that there may be cracks that mv goods may fall 
through.'' 

I will now read, gentlemen, from the report of Hon. D. X. Cooley, 
late Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to the Secretary of the Interior, 
bearing date Jul}' 18, 1866. On p. 2 of the report Judge Cooley says : 

" The foregoing facts appeared from the records of this Office; but as I did not deem 
them sufficient to answ-r the resolution referred to. I, in compliance with your in. true • 
tiona in letter of June 5, 1866, directed Mr. Alexander Johrn-tonto proceed to Dakota, 
and make such investigation and report as would enable the Department to respond to 
the resolution of the House above reierred to. 

'• Mr. Johnston, under date of the loth instant, submitted a preliminary report, re- 
ferring chiefly to the Yankton Agency, .. -:ompanied by testimony taken by him in re- 
gard to the past conduct of Indian affairs there, copies of which are herewith trans- 
mitted. 

•• The facts elicited by Mr. Johnston, an t ret'errei to in his report, taken in connec- 
tion with the records of this Office, may be brierly ;::.:- i as follows : 

•• That late Agent Burleigh claims to have expended $1,871.61, and was allowed 
credit for that amount by my predecessor, for building a school-house, and for educa- 
tional purposes, while no school-house was built, no school kept, and no Indians taught ; 

•• That he took receipts from the Indians for property that he retained iu his poasee- 
sion, and dropped tbe property from his returns on such receipts ; 

M That he made frequent purchases or' supplies for the agency from tbe employes : 

'• That the purchases made by him were made without inviting competition, by ad- 
vertisement, as provided by la.v ; 

••That he purchased articles with the funds of the Indiars. which were not necessary 
for them ; 

•• T :...". : ' ^vork cattle, 275 milch cows. 5 horses. 56 stock hogs, and 17 waeons pur- 
chased by him during his tarn o: jffice, nothing remained to be turaed over to his suc- 
cessor except one wagon ; 



20 

"That he sold some oxen and a wagon from the agency, and took oxen, wagons, 
ploughs, chains, and yokes from the agency to his farm at Bon Homme ; 

" That he enrolled and paid eleven men as ' carpenters ' in ' constructing a school- 
house ' who were soldiers stationed at the agency, and who did not construct a school- 
house ; 

"That he paid Catherine S. Burleigh, Sallie D. Faulk, and Henrietta Faulk as 
'teachers,' when there was no school." 

It may be well to notice that Catherine Burleigh is a sister of Dr. 
Burleigh, and Sallie D. Faulk and Henrietta Faulk are sisters of his 
wife. The report continues : 

1 ' That he paid a miller and an engineer when there was no mill in operation ; 

" That he paid John Thompson as blacksmith and James Mechling as tinner while 
they worked for bim on his farm ; 

" That he sold tinware to his trader which was manufactured by the tinsmith, paid 
out of the funds of the Indians ; 

" That he enrolled his son, thirteen years old, as a ' laborer ' at the agency, and paid 
him at the rate of $40 per month, while the boy went to school, or amused himself in 
hunting and fishing ; 

"That, running the mess-house ("a wayside inn) for his own profit, he paid the per- 
sons who kept it out of the funds of the Indians ; 

"That he paid John W. Owens and Foster T. Wheeler, employed as laborers at the 
agency, less money than they receipted for ; 

" That he filled up a voucher, signed in blank by John W. Owens, for more than ten 
times the amount received by Mr. Owens ; 

" That he brought into his account a voucher for $1,200 as paid to Charles C. Hedges, 
and receipted by him, for hauling forty tons of goods from the wreck of the steamer J. 
Gr. Morrow — which goods had not been hauled by Hedges, but by other parties em- 
ployed by Agent Burleigh, at one-half the rates charged in the voucher ; 

" That he agreed to collect a depredation claim for John W. Owens, against the In- 
dians under his charge, for one-half of the amount collected ; 

" That he presented and collected a similar claim of Ellis W. Wall, where a similar 
agreement had been entered into with his father-in-law, A. J. Faulk ; 

" That he brought a voucher into his accounts, which was allowed by my predeces- 
sor, for $750, as paid to John W. Owens, when no part of it had or has been paid ; 

" That he brought a voucher into his accounts, which was allowed by my predecessor, 
for $1,313.75, as paid to Ellis W. Wall, when but $500 had been paid , 

*' That he represented to both Owens and Wall that their claims for depredations had 
not been allowed, when he had the funds in his hands to pay them. 

" Besides these, there are other matters of less importance, but still of a very serious 
nature, in the report of Mr. Johnston and in the testimony accompanying his report. 
As he wrote with the facts and records before him, and has stated the points more at 
length than I have done, I respectfully refer you to his report for the details. 

" Mr. Johnston alludes to the difficulties he had in making a report, occasioned by 
the shortness of the time at his disposal and the want of power to send for persons and 
papers, and suggests, if it is intended to redress the wrongs of these Indians, that a 
committee or a special commissioner be sent out, clothed with power to compel the ap- 
pearance of witnesses, and make a thorough investigation. 

" I concur in this suggestion. Such investigations are too often a matter of form 
merely. The present case affords an instance. Soon after Mr. Burleigh entered upon 
the duties of the Yauktan Agency, charges were preferred against him. These charges 
were considered so serious that President Lincoln, on the 31st December, 1861, wrote, 
with his own hand, a letter to the late Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in these words : 
4 1 have been shown charges against Walter A. Burleigh, Yankton Indian Agent, which 
have been filed in your office. I think you should suspend his official functions till 
these charges be heard, and that the charges be brought to a hearing as soon as possi- 
ble. 1 think Hon. Mr. Covode procured Mr. Burleigh's appointment ; if I had any- 
thing to do with it, let me know. — A. Lincoln.' " 

The report of Special Commissioner Johnson, who was sent out to 
look after Burleigh, under a resolution of Congress, gives a very fall 
biography of this willing witness of Mr. Bogy. I will content myself 
with one extract. The report is lengthy, and every line of it shows 



21 

Burleigh in the same unenviable light. The Commissioner (pages 7 
and 8) says: 

Of these claimants I could only find Owens and Wall. Their testimony in regard to 
these claims presents a singular state of facts. I will very briefly refer to it. Owens 
swears that he placed his claim in the hands of Dr. Burleigh (then agent J for collec- 
tion, with the agreement that the proceeds should be equally divided between them ; 
that he signed a blank voucher for it, to enable the agent to collect it, and that he has 
" never received a cent of it." Wail testified, in regard to his claim, that he pre- 
sented it to Agent Burleigh, who said he had no time to attend to it, but advised him 
to get Squire Faulk (the father. in-law of Agent BurleighJ to collect it ; that he placed 
it in the hands of the squire, agreeing to pay one half for its collection ; that when he 
afterwards spoke to the agent about it, he stated that " he didn't know how the squire 
was getting along with it, but he thought there was no chance;" that in September, 
1864, he was at the agency, and saw Dr. Burleigh, but the witness had better relate 
the rest in his own language. He continues : "Doctor Burleigh told me he was very 
anxious to see me, and told me to be sure and come to the offi.ee before 1 went away. 
I saw him before I left ; he told me he had been on to Washington, and that there was 
no show for my claim. He said he wanted to help the people up here, though ; that I 
was a poor man, and that if I would sign the vouchers, he would give up my note for 
$500, and stand his chances of collecting my claim. I signed the vouchers, and he 
gave up my note. I have never heard anything further about the matter since." 
This was in September, 1864. Funds to pay the claim ($1,313 75 ) in full had been 
placed in the agent's hands in August, 1864. 

The records of your office show that the claim of Owens, above referred to, was 
allowed by Commissioner Dole, January 15, 1864 ; they do not show that either of the 
above claims was allowed at all, except that the funds to pay them were remitted to 
Agent Burleigh, August 19, 1864. 

Although Wall testifies that his claim was placed in the hands of Mr. Faulk to be 
collected on the shares, Cthe agent stating he had no time to attend to it, ) the records 
show that Agent Burleigh, and not Mr. Faulk, presented it to the department. 

The note for $500 alluded to by Wall, as above, was given, as his testimony will 
show, for four yoke of oxen and a wagon ; one yoke of which oxen were sold to him 
by Agent Burleign from his farm, and three yoke and the wagon from the agency. 

The certificates to the voucher of Owens and that of Wall are both in the same lan- 
guage, and as follows : 

"I certify, on honor, that the above account is correct and just, and that I have ac- 
tually, this 30th day of September, 1864, paid the amount thereof. 

W. A. BURLEIGH, 
United States Yankton Agent.' 1 '' 

This is the man whom Mr. Bogy finds, of all the men in the world, 
to come here and sustain him in making this award. I ask you to 
read the entire report of the special commissioner sent out to examine 
into the conduct of this man. I assure you that that report shows him 
to have been guilty of every kind of fraud that has ever been known 
to this " festering mass of corruption." I ask you and this Committee 
why it is, if Mr. Bogy wants to reform the Indian Office, he takes a 
man against whom these authentic reports have been made ; reports 
which should forever banish him from the society of honest men. 
These reports were printed and under the eyes of Mr. Bogy ; and 
yet Dr. Burleigh, of all others, is the man whom he brings in as 
an expert to examine the goods, and to come here to convince 
this Committee that he had made a just award. Mr. Bogy knew very 
well, when he brought Dr. Burleigh here, that his character was rotten 
from top to bottom. He knew very well that he had already sold his 
soul for the paltry stealings that he could get from those poor Indians. 
He knew that he had accounts pending before him wheu he brought 
him as a witness. If these official reports are correct, no gentleman of 
the Committee will doubt that Dr. Burleigh would have taken any oath 



22 

here for the benefit of the Indian Commissioner, if he would in return 
audit these accounts of his, amounting, as Burleigh says, to $5,000, 
$10,000, $30,000, or $50,000. 

Mr. Bogy knew all this. The facts were contained in a printed pub- 
lic document in his own office. He knew that this man Burleigh had for- 
feited his honor for this paltry sum of $1,300 ; that he had been guilty 
of all kinds of fraud, and that he had suspended accounts now pend- 
ing in the Indian Office which, for aught Burleigh says he can tell, 
run up as high as $50,000. He knew that he. Mr. Bogy, could keep 
his accounts back or push them forward, that he had the auditing and 
settling of them ; and yet, when his character is assailed, he, claiming 
to have acted with a virtue never before known in the Indian Bureau, 
goes to this man Burleigh, and says: " 1 want you to come down to 
the sample room and see if I made a good award." Ah ! what was 
the implied meaning of that language to Mr. Burleigh? What would 
Burleigh interpret it to mean ? Why, only this : " You have ac- 
counts pending before me. You are in a tight place, for your ac- 
counts are all bogus. I am in a tight place for my awards are all bo- 
gus. I want you to come in and examine these goods and go up to 
the Committee and swear." Mr. Burleigh did swear. He was a will- 
ing witness, and he swore energetically. While I assert that he had 
no qualifications as an expert, I also say that he has the worst charac- 
ter that ever disgraced Mr. Bogy's " festering mass of corruption." 

Of Col. Bent I have just this to say : It leaked out in evidence that 
he too had a large amount of claims pending before the Indian Office ; 
that he had been employed by Mr. Bogy, without authority of law, 
and that he had come on to get his pay from Mr. Bogy. 

How far that fact may have influenced Col. Bent, I will not pre- 
tend to say. But there is another fact connected with him, and that 
is, that his goods were turned over to Butterfield, and were by But- 
terfield turned over to Charles Bogy. Col. Bent was no expert and 
no proper man to call as a witness. In the second place, he is alto- 
gether t'.>o much mixed up with the Bogy family to be a disinterested 
and impartial witness. Mr. Bogy should have vindicated his charac- 
ter with a more competent witness, and one who was farther removed 
from the Bogy influence. 

I have now referred to all the witnesses that Mr. Bogy could find to 
sustain his action. Two others were subpoenaed by him, one from the 
house of A. T. Stewart & Co., and one from the house of H. B. Claflin & 
Co. They came together, and they went back together. Only one of 
them, Mr. Walker, was sworn on one class of goods, and he swore sub- 
stantially as our witnesses swore throughout. Take Mr. Walker's tes- 
timony and figure up, and you will find that there is less than $100 dif- 
ference between his estimate and the estimate of our witnesses. Mr. 
Bogy did not go any further with disinterested witnesses. He dropped 
that class of witnesses when he got through with Mr. Walker, and the 
expert who was subpoenaed with Walker, Mr. Bogy did not put on 
the stand. I shall, therefore, argue to you, gentlemen, that the evi- 
dence of the six or seven disinterested witnesses whom we produced 
is the evidence by which you must be governed in making your de- 



23 

cision. And here let us examine briefly the evidence of these wit- 
nesses : 

In the first place I call your attention to the bids. Bates' bid on first 
class was $108,625 ; Stettauers's bid, $90,045 — making a difference of 
$18,580. The concurrent evidence of all disinterested witnesses was that 
the difference in value between Bates' and Stettauer's samples in the mar- 
ket on this amount of goods would be about $6,505. Their figures 
vary but very little separately, and the aggregate makes a difference 
of $6,505, leaving, so far as the marketable value is concerned, a dif- 
ference of $12,075 in favor of Stettauer. Let me call your attention 
to the fact that the same witnesses all coacurred in stating that Bates' 
blanket was a blanket of peculiarly nice finish, having a greater 
marketable than real value. You or I would like that blanket 
for family use; but our preference for it would be owing to its 
polish and fancy finish ; not that it has extra wear and tear over Stet- 
tauer's blanket. Some of them testify that Stettauer's blanket was 
just about as good as Bates'. Mr. Davis testifies that Stettauer's 
blanket was better made, but not of so good material, and that, for 
outdoor Indian service, there was as much in the making as in the 
material of a blanket. All agree that Evans or McKnight's are as 
good, substantially, as Bates', and both of American manufacture. 

In the second class, Bates's bid was $37,500 ; Stettauer's, $28,700. 
Yet Mr. Bogy selects Mr. Bates' bid, while the concurrent evidence of 
the experts is that Mr. Stettauer's samples are better than Bates'. Mr. 
Bogy has been very technical in this examination, asserting that by 
the resolution of the House, under which the Committee is acting, we 
must show that the contract was for poorer goods at a higher price. 
The concurrent evidence of the experts is that Stettauer's goods are 
better than Bates'. Although Bates is to receive $8,700 more than 
Stettauer's bid, the experts say that Stettauer's are $750 better, mak- 
ing a difference of $9,450, which, triplicated, makes, $28,350. I say 
that that is the concurrent evidence of all the disinterested witnesses. 

In the 3d class, Mr. Farwell's bid was $79,707, Stettauer's, $69,377, 
making a difference in favor of Stettauer of $10,310. But all the dis- 
interested witnesses swore that Stettauer's are the better goods, to the 
amount of $3,770, making a difference in favor of Stettauer's bid of 
$14,080. Triplicating that, we have the total difference of $42,240. 
against Mr. Bogy's award of the 3d class. Gentlemen, it is for you to 
say, whether Mr. Bogy was misled in making such award, or whether 
the award was made with the intent that Mr Bogy's friends should make 
money. Taking these differences of $36,225 on 1st class, $28,350 on 
2d class, and $42,240 on 3d class, and putting them together, you have 
the aggregate difference of $107,1L5, as the direct loss to the Gov- 
ernment on Bogy's award. Gentlemen, that difference exists after 
giving Bates all the credit that he claims for his blanket, on account 
of the extra market value, owing to dressing up, finish, and polish. 

I might stop here, and ask whether Indians want blankets better in 
polish and finish, than have heretofore been made. Dobson swears 
that he never made for the trade as good a blanket as he made for 
Bates as a sample. Why give to the Indians blankets of a higher 



24 

finish than were ever made before ? Mr. Bogy tells us that he wanted 
to give a preference to domestic over foreign manufacture. I deny, in 
the first place, that he has any right to make that preference. I assert 
here, that it is the province of Congress to determine on what terms 
foreign goods shall compete with domestic goods. It is not a question 
for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Congress will take care that 
the manufactures of the country are properly protected. It is the espe- 
cial business »)f Congress to do fo. But, gentlemen, I assert, that if 
Mr. Bogy acted in good faith, and really thought it best to protect 
American manufactures, he should have given the contract for the 1st 
class to McKnight or Evans. All the disinterested evidence is, that 
McKnight's and Evans' blankets are just as good as Bates'. Some say 
there is a little difference in one respect, and same a little difference in 
another, but the weight of evidence is, that they are in all respects 
as good as Bates'. Mr. Commissioner Bogy, under the evidence, could 
raise no question as to their being of domestic manufacture. If Mr. 
Bogy acted in good faith then in the transaction, why did he not give 
the contract to McKnight or Evans, and thus save the Government 
and the Indians the large amount of money shown by the tables I have 
heretofore presented ? But was it a good faith transaction ? Why 
was the advertisement published by Mr. Bogy : " 1st class goods, for- 
eign or domestic." Why did Mr. Bogy invite Stettauer and others to 
come here with foreign samples, to compete for this contract, if he had 
determined to take only domestic manufactures ? Why did he not 
state in his notice that it was of no use for bidders to come here and 
spend their time in putting in bids with samples of foreign manufac- 
tures? 

In the 2d class it is the same. The advertisement called for " for- 
eign or domestic." Here I claim, in the first place, that it was not 
his province to make a difference between foreign and domestic goods ; 
and in the second place, if it was his province so to do, and he intended 
to discriminate, he should have said so in his advertisement, so that 
bidders could have taken notice, and governed themselves accordingly; 
and in the third place, if he was to discriminate in favor of domestic 
manufacture, then the award should clearly have been given either to 
Evans or McKnight. Mr. Bogy will hardly say now that there was 
this " infinite difference" between these several blankets, which he 
claimed at the outset. I took samples, such as Mr. Cochrane swore 
were the ordinary sized samples upon which foreign goods are pur- 
chased, and I laid them before Mr. Bogy and said, " select from those 
samples the one that is so " infinitely superior to the others." Here 
are Evans', McKnights', and Bates', tell which is Bates'. He examined 
them, and said, " I will be subject to no such tests. I could not tell 
you if I would, and I would not if I could." That was the safest 
ground that Mr. Bogy had taken in the whole trial, the very safest 
ground ; and yet, he rushes into evidence on the very first day of the 
examination, the statement that Bates' goods were " infinitely supe- 
rior" to the others. First, he swore that Bates' goods were infinitely 
superior to all the others ; then he swore that he knew nothing about 
goods; then I put samples of these "infinitely superior goods" before 



25 

him with others, and asked him to select the infinitely superior ones, 
and he says, " I could not if I would, and I would not if I could." He 
then got back on safe ground. His expert, Jonas, was subjected to the 
same test, and likewise admitted his inability to say which was Bates', 
which Evans', and which McKnight's samples. Having given Bates 
$43,050 more for his blankets alone, and having sworn they were " in- 
finitely superior," both Bogy and Jonas confess, when put to this sim- 
ple test, that they cannot select Mr. Bates' from the other samples. Is 
there not something passing strange in all this ? 

But, gentlemen, I claim that for Indian wear Stettauer's blankets 
are substantially as good as Bates'. It is in evidence that they are 
good, strong, well-made, durable blankets ; that they are as good as 
those the Indians have heretofore received ; that for service, they 
are nearly as good, ac least, as Bates'. Now, grant for a moment that 
this be true. The difference between the 1st class of Stettauer and 
Bates is $55,740 in favor of Stettauer. If Mr. Bogy had selected Stet- 
tauer's samples, he could have saved to the Government and to the In- 
dians, $55,740, on an article substantially as good for Indian use, and 
he could have saved on all the goods of the three classes, had he given 
the award to Stettauer instead of Bates and Farwell, $126,630. You 
recollect, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, that I asked these disinterested 
experts this question : " Taking all Stettauer's three classes, taking 
Bates' 1st and 2d, and Farwell's 3d class, and laying them altogether, 
Stettauer's against the award, and which are the best goods for In- 
dian service ?" and they all testified that they would select Mr. Stetta- 
uer's classes of goods. 

Mr. Bogy. There is not one witness that did not testify to the re- 
verse of that — every one of your own witnesses. 

Mr. Davis. I then asked them as to the marketable value of all 
these goods ; and on that marketable value, how much difference 
do they make? 

Mr. Bogy. They make a difference in favor of Bates of $1,085, 
taking ail together — all your witnesses without one exception. 

Mr. Davis. I say that the witnesses, estimating those goods by their 
marketable value, state that the goods to which the award was made, 
putting the three classes together, were better than the goods of Stet- 
tauer, by between one and two thousand dollars ; but they stated that 
there was a value on Bates' goods not real for Indian service ; that it 
was of no use to the Indians to have some of the elements of expense 
that were in the Bates blankets ; and there is not a member of the 
Committee but will bear me out in the statement. I say that the Gov- 
ernment would have been saved $126,630, if Stettauer's goods had 
been taken entire in place of the award. While the marketable value 
of the award, altogether, exceeded Stettauer's, Bogy says by $1,085, 
triplicate that and we have $3,255 — that is, in the market, Bates' and 
Farwell's are so much better than Stettauer's — compare the bids, and 
it will be your task to determine the probable motives which in- 
fluenced Mr. Bogy in giving the award to Bates and Farwell. I de- 
sire simply to appeal to you, whether anything has been shown to 
justify that award. I do not care now whether the award was made 
honestly or not. 



26 

There is one other feature of this examination, to which I must call 
your attention. Every time that one of our witnesses testified as to 
the samples, I was careful to ask him who had showed him those 
goods, and the answer invariably was, "Mr. Bogy," or " Mr. Jonas." 
There was no humbugging these men. Our witnesses knew what 
goods they swore to, because some person on each side of this contro- 
versy were always there to point them out. 

But did Mr. Bogy say to any gentleman of the Committee, " I would 
like to have you come down, or I will permit Mr. Davis to come down, 
so that when I take my experts in to examine the goods, it may be 
seen that the proper samples are exhibited to them ?" You will re- 
member how persistently I struggled, at the outset, to have the samples 
brought here, that there might be a fair examination, and you will 
remember how hard Mr. Bogy struggled against it, stating that the 
goods were so bulky that it would be impossible to bring them here. 
They were kept in the Indian office, and I know that I was not per- 
mitted to accompany Mr. Bogy's witnesses to see that the right goods 
were examined. Mr. Walker swore that he was shown a sample of a 
black satinet as being Mr. Stettauer's, while the fact was that Mr. Stet- 
tauer had no sample of black satinet. I do not know, indeed, and you do 
not know, whether Mr. Wilson, or Mr. Dobson,-or any of Bogy's wit- 
nesses, ever saw any of the goods that were fairly and squarely put in. 
I do know, that as to the matter of that black satinet, Mr. Stet- 
tauer had no such sample there. Permit me to suggest to you, gentle- 
men, now, as it may slip my mind, that when you get through with 
your investigation, and before you make your report, you all look 
at this sample room as it now is. 1 want you to see how this reform 
movement of Mr. Bogy is working, and what an extraordinary sample 
room he has, with which to reform the Indian Bureau. 

Gentlemen, take Mr. Bogy's system of bidding for a contract, and 
is there really any competition such as is contemplated by law ? Can 
you tell me why Mr. Bogy may not as well go into the stores of these 
gentlemen who bid and examine the quality and price of goods there, 
and select such as he thinks best, as to make the same examination 
and selection in the Indian Office ? Each bidder has. a different sam- 
ple, with a different price — where is the competition ? No bidder 
knows what quality of samples to bring — whether very good, middling, 
or very poor — for no one knows what quality of goods the Commis- 
sioner may think the Indians entitled to until he makes his selection. 
Who could have guessed that he wanted blankets like the Bates' sam- 
ples, when only six such blankets have ever been made ? But I must 
not dwell longer here. 

I come now to another branch of the case — the rejection of Buck- 
ley, Sheldon & Co's bid. I will not stop here to inquire what motive 
influenced Mr. Bogy in throwing out their bid. I simply say his ac- 
tion was a high-handed outrage. That act alone ought to cost him his 
office. That act alone should be held sufficient to vitiate the entire 
letting, or cause the award to be set aside. If I speak with some de- 
gree of warmth on this subject, it is because I know so well the char- 
acter of the gentlemen on whom Mr. Bogy has attempted to put the 



27 ■ 

brand of official condemnation. The reputation of the hottse of 
Buckley, Sheldon & Co. is so well known in the City of New York 
that no business man of that city will hear them slandered, with any 
degree of patience. Bogy threw out their bid, and says he threw 
it out under this clause of the notice: "No bid will be considered 
from persons who have failed to comply with the requirements of a 
former contract with the United States." I asked Mr. Bogy to fur- 
nish all the evidence he had that they had failed to comply with their 
contract with the United States. In the contract they say they will! 
supply to the Government, at prices named in the schedule annexed, 
the articles of goods mentioned in the schedule, if called for by the 
Indian Commissioner — it being at the option of the Commissioner to 
triplicate the amount of goods, or take less, as he may choose. It is, 
however, agreed that, betore the United States shall be bound by this 
contract, a bond in the sum of $150,000 shall be executed by Buckley, 
Sheldon & Co., with securities amply sufficient, and whose sufficiency 
must be certified to by a United States Judge or District Attorney. 
How could Buckley, Sheldon & Co. violate this contract ? It certainly 
must be in one of two ways. Either they must refuse to furnish goods 
when called for, or they must furnish articles inferior to those men- 
tioned in the contract. Is there any pretence that they did either? 

If this is an effort on Mr. Bogy's part to assail ex- Commissioner 
Cooley, why not make a square, manly, bold fight on Mr. Cooley ? 
He knows Buckley, Sheldon & Co. supplied all goods which were 
called for under their contract, and that the quality was unexception- 
able ; and he now tries to get around the fact by stating that Mr. 
Cooley furnished the Indians with some bad goods last year. That 
may be so ; but where were those goods bought ? There is not a 
word of evidence that they were bought of Buckley, Sheldon & Co. 
As if to influence you in some way, he brings in here, yesterday 
morning, a bundle of rags to show that the Indians have been heretofore 
swindled. Perhaps they have been. I know they are being swindled 
now ; but did he attempt to prove or even dare to assert directly that 
Buckley, Sheldon & Co. sold them one article of those rags ? Not at 
all. Why he brought them here you know as well as I. Mr. Bogy 
swore that from all parts of the Indian country there come up com- 
plaints with reference to the goods which Buckley, Sheldon k Co. fur- 
nished last year. From all parts of the country ! That is strong lan- 
guage. I put Col. Taylor, late Superintendent, on the stand. He 
swears that his superintendency covered nearly half the Indians to 
whom the goods were furnished ; that nearly half of the goods of 
Buckley, Sheldon & Co. passed under his inspection and went to his 
Indians, and that not one word of complaint ever came from the In- 
dians or Indian Agents with reference to them. He swears also that 
they were first-class goods — better goods than had been furnished for 
some years. Mr. Bogy swore that complaints came up from all over 
the Indian country, but here is one-half of the Indian country that 
complaints did not come from. Let us see for a moment how it is 
with the other half. 

The Committee here adjourned till Wedndesday, January 16. 



28 



January, 16, 1867. 
Mr. Davis, in continuation of his argument in support of the charges, 
said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : 

When I closed yesterday, I had just called your attention to the 
evidence of Col. Taylor, commending the goods of Buckley, Sheldon, 
&Co. 

Mr. Johnson, at that time Head of the Finance Bureau of the Indian 
Office, testified that he had occasion to examine a large quantity of 
these goods, and that they were of good quality. Perry Fuller and 
Edward Cochrane, of New York, both experts, testified that they saw 
a large portion of those goods, and that they were of first class quality. 
Certificates have been put on file from Messrs. Sutton, Smith k Co., 
John Slade k Co., Campbell k Elliot, Turnbull, Slade k Co., Anthony 
& Hall, Barry k Waldo, and G. Brewer k Co., all New York houses, 
to the effect that they each furnished large quantities of those goods, 
and that they were all of first class quality. Could Mr. Bogy's unsup- 
ported assertion be more conclusively disproved ? 

It has come to my knowledgs that the Hon. Mr. Mclndoe, a member 
of this Committee, has seen a portion of those goods, and whether his 
judgment be that they were very bad or very good, I trust the Com- 
mittee will ask Mr. Mclndoe the result of his investigation, for I wish 
the Committee to have all the light possible in order that Mr. Bogy 
and Buckley, Sheldon k Co. may each receive impartial justice at your 
hands. I regard the attack upon Buckley, Sheldon k Co. as out- 
rageous and unfounded. I call your attention to the fact that Mr. 
Bogy, who should have known what he was doing, stood up before 
you, and in his endeavor to fasten a slander upon that house, attempted 
to read from the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, a state- 
ment with reference to the quality of goods furnished to a portion of 
the Indians two years ago. He commenced to read from page 18 
of the report, and when I called his attention to the fact that the report 
did not allude in any manner to the goods of Buckley Sheldon, k Co., 
he asserted positively that it did ; and it was only when Mr. Mix came 
in and assured him that he was entirely in error that he gave it up. 
I deem it unfortunate that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs should 
know so little of the business of his office as to attempt to support his 
own slander upon the house of Buckley, Sheldon k Co., by reading a 
report which did not allude to them at all, but to goods furnished a 
year before they had any contract with the Government. Would you 
believe it, gentlemen ? The goods which Mr. Commissioner Bogy 
wished to prove so bad and so totally unfit for Indian service as to 
justify him in rejecting the bid of Buckley, Sheldon k Co., were fur- 
nished by Cronin, Hurxall k Sears. Cronin is now dead, and Hurxall 
and Seers are the leading members of a firm which put in a bid for 
this contract and that bid was not rejected. If Mr. Bogy wishes to 
take that horn of the dilemna, that in ignorance of the business and 
duties of his office, he accepted the bid of the men who did furnish 



29 

goods which were reported to be unfit for Indian service, and then 
threw out thl bid of Buckley, Sheldon & Co., against whose goods 
there never has been a word of complaint, let him do so. Let him, 
if he please, defend his integrity at the expense of his intelligence. 

One word farther. Mr. Bogy says that the goods sent to the Arapa- 
hoes and Cheyennes, which were rejected by them, and in place of 
which other goods were bought by Mr. Charles Bogy, were rejected 
because they were of inferior quality. He declares in his evidence 
that they were totally unfit for Indian service. Let me read from the 
letter of Charles Bogy in reference to that transaction. I want to show 
you that Mr. Bogy's statement in this matter is entirely erroneous — 
charity induces me to use that term instead of a stronger one. I 
read from Chas. Bogy's letter of November 3, 1866. He says : 

"Kow. L. V. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs: 

The Indians are dissatisfied with, the assortment of goods sent to them. The invoices 
are not such as they want. * * * # _ * # These goods were 

"bought in New York and are now at Fort Ellsworth, eighty miles west of this place. 
•* •* # # ■* * 

(Signed) . CHARLES BOGY. 

You observe that he had not seen the goods at all. They were eighty 
miles from him. They were not the kind of goods that the Indians 
wanted ; but nowhere in this letter is there one word that the quality 
was inferior. And yet Mr. Bogy testifies on the stand that his brother 
and Mr. Irwin had reported that those goods were bad, and that hence 
the Indians would not receive them ; and therefore he had been com- 
pelled, through his brother, to furnish different goods. Another man, 
Mr. Faulk, who, Mr. Bogy says, reported against certain of Buckley, 
Sheldon & Co's goods, and whose letter I hold in my hand, only says : 
" It is useless to furnish any blankets less than three points to the 
Indians." Mr. Bogy gave you that letter as a ground for throwing out 
the bid of Buckley, Sheldon & Co., and yet immediately advertises for a 
large lot of blankets less than three points, showing how much confi- 
dence he put in the judgment of his own witness. I have carefully 
examined all the letters read by Bogy to justify his action, and only 
one man finds fault with the quality of the goods sent to the Indians, 
and that man is the agent with whom Mr. Charles Bogy operated in 
rejecting the regular supply of goods and furnishing the invoice 
of goods which he, Charles Bogy, purchased in open market, ( the 
Bent goods.) There "were complaints that some of the goods were not 
the hind the Indians wanted ; that the blankets were not three-point, 
&c. but Mr. Wynkoop is the only one that complains of the quality of 
the goods ; and there is not a particle of evidence that the goods 
"Wynkoop complains of were furnished by Buckley, Sheldon k Co. 
My time is so limited that I can only say further, that the house of 
Buckley, Sheldon & Co. needs vindication from no man's attack unless 
he carries with him the weight of high official position. If Mr. Bogy 
had been a private individual, I would have treated his vituperation 
with silent contempt. As it was, I deemed it but just to show you how 
utterly groundless are all his charges. 



so 

I am sure you will scrutinize the evidence carefully, and do justice 
to this house, which has so thoroughly done justice to the Government. 

I come now to the transaction of Charles Bogy, (the brother of Com- 
missioner Bogy,) and I will call yonr attention for a single moment to 
the invoice of goods which he furnished to the Arapahoes and Chey- 
ennes. I have not time to go through with the whole invoice, but will 
call your attention to a few articles. He furnished blue blankets at 
$23 a pair, buying them from Col. Butterfield. 

Mr. McIndoe. What was the date of that? 

Mr. Davis. It is certified by Charles Bogy November 23d, 1866. 
He furnished blue blankets at $23 a pair. He furnished green blank- 
ets (and Mr. Bogy swears the Indians never want to wear anything 
green) at $23 a pair. He furnished scarlet blankets at $23.50. 

Mr. McIndoe. At what point did they furnish them ? 

Mr. Davis. At Fort Zarah. I had much trouble in drumming up 
those invoices. I called for them the second day of the examination, 
and the Committee decided that I should have them. I called for 
them daily until next to the latt day evidence was taken, but could 
not get them. I then called the attention of the Committee to the 
fact, and the Chair decided that I should have them. The same after- 
noon I went to the Indian Office to get them, and Mr. Bogy said to 
me that the young man who had charge of the keys had gone to a 
funeral, and that I could not get them. I applied to Mr. Mix to know 
if that was true 1 and Mr. Mix would not answer me. I sat down in 
his own office and wrote a letter to Mr. Bogy demanding, on the 
authority of the Committee, that I should have those invoices, as the 
evidence was about to close. Mr. Mix took that letter to Bogy, and 
finally came back to me and said, "I will see if I cannot find the:]":." 
He went away, and came back bringing the invoices with him. He 
had found them in Mr. Irwin's pocket. Mr. Irwin, the man who was 
with Charles Bogy when he made the purchases. I then asked for the 
invoices, or a copy of them, but Mr. Bogy said I could not have 
either ; nor did I get them, or see them, except for a moment, unril 
they were put in evidence the last day of the examination. Mr. Bogy, 
for purposes best known to himself, did not wish to show those invoi- 
ces. I see that the blankets are billed at $23 a pair for blue blankets, 
and $23.50 a pair for scarlet blankets. I asked Mr. Irwin, when Mr. 
Bogy called him as a witness, what it cost to transport blankets from 
Leavenworth to Fort Zarah, where these blankets were sold to the 
Indians. He said it cost $1.60 per hundred pounds for every hundred 
miles. I have made an estimate upon that, and find that, to transport 
one pair of Bates' blankets to Fort Leavenworth, will cost 4 cents, and 
from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Zarah, 38 jj cents; adding that to the 
cost of Mr. Bates' best blue three-point indigo blanket in St. Louis, 
($11.40,) would make the cost of Bates' blankets, at Fort Zarah, 
$11.82?. Do you wonder now, gentleman, that Mr. Bogy held back 
these invoices till I extorted them from him? I wish now to make 
a comparrison in regard to the scarlet blankets which Mr. Bogy's 
brother bought for these Indians in open market. They are charged 
in this invoice at $23.50 a pair. Mr. Bates' scarlet blanket costs in 



31 

St. Louis $11.80 ; add to that the cost of transportation to Fort Zarah, 
(42-| cents,) and it will make the cost of Bates' scarlet blanket at Fort 
Zarah, 12 dollars and 22-j- cents — making a net profit on the scarlet 
blanket of 11 dollars and 27-jj- cents. 

I have no time to go through the whole of this invoice, but every 
article shows the same profit to Charles Bogy & Co. I ask the Com- 
mittee to read this invoice, and they will see that the Indians were 
swindled to the tune of a hundred per cent, on almost every one of 
those articles, even granting they were first-class goods, which Mr. 
Bogy has not attempted to show by a single witness. But here is one 
article to which I must call your attention. I find in this invoice 60 
balmoral skirts, at $6 each, for the wild Cheyenne squaws, who, we all 
know, wear nothing but breech cloths in the summer and blankets in 
the winter. And yet Col. Bent turns over to Mr. Butterfield, and Mr. 
Butterfield turns over to Charles Bogy his stock, and among them 
there figure for those Cheyenne squaws 60 balmoral skirts, at $6 each. 
I ask either of you, gentlemen, who have a family, to find out what 
you pay for balmoral skirts, which cost $6 a piece at Fort Zarah ; and 
then I want to ask you what, in heaven's name, a Cheyenne squaw 
can do with a balmoral skirt? I do not see in the invoice any water- 
falls, or bosom-pads, or laces, or flounces to match these balmoral 
skirts. Has Mr. Bogy an idea that a full dress for a Cheyenne squaw 
is a balmoral skirt alone? 

If you look, gentlemen, at this invoice carefully, you will find 
that it shows one of the most startling and damnable frauds 
ever perpetrated. There is no doubt of it. There can be no 
doubt of it. Gentlemen, who bought those goods ? Charles Bogy, 
the brother of Lewis V. Bogy. He rejects goods which he has 
never seen, and in their place he buys this bill of goods. We are 
taught to pray every day, " Lead us not into temptation." I ask you, 
gentlemen, if a stronger temptation ever fell to the lot of man than 
to defend a son or a brother in wrong? Is it wonderful that Lewis 
V. Bogy, with the feelings that nature plants in the human heart, 
should have struggled to suppress the record of this startling fraud 
of his brother ? Is it proper that this Department of the Government 
should be longer run in the interest of the Bogy family ? I remem- 
ber a celebrated murder case, where the evidence was almost conclu- 
sive against the prisoner, when his mother came forward and swore 
positively to an alibi. When the prosecuting attorney finished 
reviewing the evidence, he said : " I think I have now touched upon 
all the evidence — all the evidence except that of the mother of the 
prisoner. All I have to say on her evidence is, God help the mother 
who would not perjure herself to save her son." I say God pity the 
Indian Commissioner, who must stand here, and either cover up and 
defend such frauds as are here unearthed, or humiliate and disgrace 
forever his own brother and his own son. 

Gentlemen, there is one other feature of this invoice to which I wish 
to call your attention. Mr. Bogy said that in the article of hardware 
the supply was deficient, and hence it was that Charles Bogy went to 
supplying the deficiency. And what did he buy? 51 revolvers, at 
$36 each ; 98 navy pistols, at $22 each ; holsters and belts, each 



32 

$1.25, in addition; 250,000 enlarged gun caps; 20 kegs powder, $17 
each ; 1,250 lbs. of bar lead. This, gentlemen, is the hardware which 
Chas. Bogy saw fit to put in the hands of those Indians. I picked up 
the National Intelligencer of yesterday, and I desire to read you an 
extract from its columns which seems pertinent at this point : 

" Indian Hostilities — The New Campaign. 

" A correspondent of the Chicago Republican gives some statements in regard to the 
condition of affairs on the Plains. He says that Captain Keogh, a young army officer, 
reports that he was present at the great Cheyenne council at Fort Zarah, and saw the 
best kind of arms, ammunition, fyc, furnished to them by the Indian agents, wherewith to 
deal death and destruction to the unprotected whites who are compelled to cross their hunting 
grounds. He asks why it is that the Interior Department, through its agents, should 
furnish them with the very means of committing massacres, while the War Depart- 
ment is furnishing troops to prevent them. There must he a screw loose somewhere. 
The Sioux and Cheyennes were conihined, and are camped between the Platte and 
Arkansas, dwelling together in harmony until grass grows sufficiently to get their 
ponies in travelling condition. The Indians in New Mexico are also committing numer- 
ous depredations, and as there is plenty of feed there the entire year, winter does not 
prevent them from committing their horrid deeds. There have been reports in regard 
to the delivery of the murderer of Colonel Bent's man, who was killed by a Cheyenne 
Indian who came eighty miles for the express purpose of killing a white man ; but the 
tribe steadily refuses to deliver him, and a war with them will be the result. 

" Measures are now in progress for one of the greatest Indian campaigns on record. 
One will be with the tribes in the Powder river country, and the other south of the 
Platte. The Government must now fight, and it must have cavalry to fight with." 

I have no time to comment upon this. The writer tells the whole 
story when he says that there " must be a screw loose somewhere." 
Mr. Cooley's policy, which Mr. Bogy has attacked, was to give those 
Indians no guns nor powder, because he knew that the first act of our 
troops must necessarily be to recapture them, if possible. But, when 
Charles Bogy goes out there with a carte blanche, to deal with the 
Indians as he pleases, he buys from Col. Butterfield the goods turned 
over to him by Col. Bent, who appears as a witness to sustain L. V. 
Bogy. He puts these guns and this powder into the hands of the 
Indians, to massacre the whites, because, forsooth, the transaction has 
a lengthy margin of profits ! Mr. Bogy waxes more eloquent than I 
ever hope or expect to do, in regard to those Indians. He says his 
consolation will be, when you send him from his office, that some poor 
Indian on the Plain, when wrapping himself warmly in his blanket, 
will remember the name of Bogy. Remember the name of Bogy ! 
Me thinks the Indians who have been swindled to the time of $23.50 
a pair for blankets will never forget the name of Bogy. No, they 
will put Lewis Y. Bogy, Charles Bo^y, and Joseph Bogy together, in 
these transactions, and the firm of Bogy, Bogy & Bogy will be for- 
ever perpetuated in the traditions of the outraged Indians. 

Now, as to the transaction of Bogy & Fry, I will say one single 
word. Mr. Bogy testifies that the Wichita Indians were so much in 
need of goods, that he must proceed at once, and quickly, to supply 
them ; and hence, he sent an order to Bogy & Fry to purchase goods 
for them. Mr. Mix, his own witness, swears, on page 51 and 52, that 
the only necessity there was for purchasing goods for the Wichitas, 
arose from the fact, that Mr. Bogy annulled the contract of Mr. Chas. 
Johnson to remove them. Mind you, here was a contract to remove 



33 

them right down to where these 3,000 pairs of blankets Were— all that 
they wanted and needed. Mr. Bogy annuls this contract, and sends 
on Mr. Byers, the Superintendent, not to- purchase goods, (there 
was no requisition for them,) but to get them from Bogy & Fry, whom 
he had ordered to purchase them in the open market. I asked him, 
as the minutes show: " Mr. Mix, was Mr. Byers, the Superintendent, 
at liberty to purchase goods where he chose?" "No," said he, " he 
was, as it were, consigned to Bogy & Fry" I quote his exact language. 
Again, Lewis V. Bogy revokes a contract, slanders here the man who 
had entered into it, (without any evidence to support his charges,) and 
makes an occasion for purchasing another large amount of goods, 
through his own son Joseph Bogy, of Bogy & Fry. In this bill of 
goods that was purchased by Bogy h Fry, I find a large quantity of 
calico and linseys, the very articles that Mr. Bogy has excluded from 
his advertisements, and which he swears the Indians do not want.. 
Here are calicoes and linseys, in large quantities. Mind you, he is ex- 
cluding these goods from his advertisement, and is purchasing them 
through his son in open market in St. Louis, at a large per cent, 
above market price. But that discussion is opening too wide a 
field for my limited time. I can only say, gentlemen, please read that 
invoice carefully for yourselves. 

I come now, gentlemen, to this question of calicoes, linseys, denims, 
jeans, blankets, &'*.. These articles have composed the principal stock 
of Indian goods. Mr. Mix swears that they have always been in the 
requisitions from the superintendents. He swears that heretofore they 
have always been furnished in very large quantities. He swears thas 
the article of red-striped bed-ticking, of which Mr. Bogy calls for 
50,000 yards, has never yet been in the requisition of a superintendent. 
I went to Mr. Mix and spent half a day nearly in trying to find one 
requisition in which red' striped bed ticking was included, and Mr. Mix 
said to me : "I am prepared to say that there is none in any of the 
requisitions, because I would have seen it if there had been. It is a new 
article to me, which I never have heard of until lately." Mr. Bogy 
excluded those articles that have been so common, and were always 
called for, from his notice, and then sends to his son at St. Louis to 
purchase them in open market ; and they are so purchased, not by the 
Superintendent, a sworn officer of the Government, but by Mr. Bogy's 
own son, who is under no official restraint, and has given no bond ; and 
no requisition has been made for the goods. You may recollect I 
asked Mr. Mix whether there was a requisition for the goods, and he 
said no. I will now read you the law requiring written requisitions, 
and the Committee will recollect that I called Mr. Bogy's attention to 
it, and asked him to comment on it, which he did not do. I read from 
the Act of July, 1862 : 

" And be it further enacted, That hereafter no goods shall be pur- 
chased by the Indian Department, or any of its agents, for any tribe, 
except on a written requisition from the Superintendent in charge of 
the tribe, and only on public bids in the mode prescribed by law for 
the purchase of other supplies." 

3 



34 

Gentlemen, there is a law passed by C .mgress expressly declaring 
that no goods shall be purchased for the Indians except on written re- 
quisition and on public bids in the mode prescribed by law for the 
purchase of other supplies. That law stands upon the statute books. 
That law should either be forthwith repealed or should be obeyed. 
But I say that until it is repealed Mr. Bogy is bound to obey it ; and 
I say that, if he had obeyed it, it would not have been possible to have 
purchased blankets for the Arapahoes at $23.50 a pair, a profit of 
nearly $12 a pair over the price of the best blankets ever made in this 
country. I say that, if that law had been faithfully carried out, no 
red-striped bed-ticking would be called for, an article which no Indian 
wants, and which only the firm of Bogy, Bogy & Bogy know any- 
thing about. If Mr. Bogy had obeyed that law, he never could have 
sent to his son to buy these goods in open market, at the outrageous 
price paid for them, which he swears to you the Indians do not want, 
and which he excludes irom his advertisement. 

Mr. Bogy testifies that the hardware samples which were sent in, in 
answer to his advertisement, were of such a nature that he could not 
make an award on the bids. It was easy for him to procure samples, 
and to require bids to be made up to those samples. How could a 
hardware merchant in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia come on 
here with boxes of hardware for samples. His idea evidently was not 
to give any contract for hardware, so that he could buy that, too, in 
open market, upon any terms he chose, through his brother, or through 
his son, or through Vital Jarrott, his cousin, who is now a Commis- 
sioner in Kansas, with his son managing other important matters. 

Let me suggest to you, gentlemen, what a wide field this opens 
for the Bogy family — for the firm of Bogy, Bogy & Bogy. They 
exclude from their list all calicoes, linseys, demins, &c., and so 
arrange that no contract shall be given for hardware, and thus 
have a fine year's speculation in prospect. What a magnificent field 
for their enterprise, when they can sell blankets for $23.50 a pair, and 
other things in proportion I I say, gentlemen, that the policy which 
compels a hardware merchant in New York, Philadelphia, or Boston, 
to bring boxes full of hardware up to this Indian office, and have his 
samples compared here with others, is radically wrong, and so radi- 
cally wrong, that it seems to me, that " a wayfaring man, though a 
fool," could discover it, and could have discovered it before Mr. Bogy's 
experiment proved a failure. I believe that Mr. Bogy did discover it. 
Has it struck you as peculiar that Bates put in two bids, and that Far- 
well put in two bids, and that nobody else put in more than one? Has 
it struck you as peculiar, that a week after the awards were made, Mr. 
Bogy swore he had not yet determined which of Bates' or Farwells' 
bids to take? My theory is this — that it was a made up thing to have 
these blankets woven weeks before this contest commenced. It was a 
made up thing when Mr. Bogy advertised for foreign goods, and then 
determined to give his preference for domestic goods, manufactured of 
domestic wool. If these bidders had all gone home satisfied, if there 
had been no noise made about the transaction, Mr. Bates was to have 
his highest bid, and Mr. Farwell his highest bid ; but, if there was any 

BD 1 a 8 

m n 



35 

investigation or trouble made over this fraud, then Mr. Bogy was to 
be at liberty to play between these two bids, up to the time he should 
see the result of the investigation. And to day, Mr. Bogy has the 
assurance to say, " I do not know which of the two bids I shall re- 
ceive." Strange that he could decide so promptly, that Bates should 
have the award, and that Farwell should have the award, but could not 
decide to which of the two bids of each he should give the preference. 
His evidence is, "I intended to call in some experts, and see which 
was the best bid for the Government. I intended to call in some old 
merchants, some experts." Why did not that occur to him with refer- 
ence to the whole of these bids ? Why was it that he took in this 
packed commission to decide who should have the award, and then 
left it open for abler men to decide, which of Bates and Farwell's two 
bids he should take. Why did not Mr. Bogy, who says he came here 
from St. Louis as a missionary, get his good men at the start? 

I intended, gentlemen, to comment a moment on the character of 
this Jonas bribery evidence, but have not time. I will only say, if Mr. 
Jonas can maintain his place in the Interior .Department, under that 
bribery evidence, the gentlemen whom he attacks, can well forego a 
defence. Every man who reads that evidence, will say that Jonas was 
a fit man for the work Mr. Bogy had in store for him. 

Let me say briefly, that the chemical test was produced here 
solely to demonstrate that there was logwood in the Bates blanket. 
It was produced for no other purpose, and it demonstrates nothing 
else. The expert said he did not have the means of testing anything 
else. How much indigo there was in the blanket was to be determined 
by other tests. So far as Dr. Burleigh's evidence as a chemist is con- 
cerned you will take it for what it is worth, knowing the character of 
the man ; and in that light I apprehend you will agree with me that it 
is worth nothing. 

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I heartily thank you 
for the patience with which you have listened to my remarks. If I 
have detained you too long, it is because my conviction is deeply 
rooted that the power of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in the 
hands of the present Commissioner, is being wielded in the interest of 
his own family and friends, and with no regard to the interests of the 
public. If there is anything that is endangering the stability and 
permanence of our Government, it is the corruption, the greed of pelf 
which is demoralizing so many in official positions, and it is only 
to you, gentlemen, the representatives of the people, that we can 
look for some proper remedy for this gigantic and still growing evil. 
It is for you to scrutinize the conduct of the officers who undertake to 
execute the laws which you make, and see to it that their acts are tainted 
with no fraud or favoritism. For these reasons, gentlemen, I have 
felt that perhaps your time could not have been better occupied than 
it has been in this investigation. 

I have no personal feeling in this matter. Some of the gentlemen 
for whom I have appeared here are old and cherished clients. They 
have felt and I have felt that they have been imposed upon in this whole 
matter of a pretended competition for these contracts by this farce of 



sealed bids ; but it is not their interests that you are to regard. 1 knew 
that the public welfare alone could claim your attention, and hence I 
have permitted many unfounded aspersions upon these gentlemen to 
pass unnoticed. The only question before you is whether the Com- 
missioner is faithfully and intelligently serving the public. Whether 
his new system of bidding does not entirely evade the law, which calls 
for fair competition in the interest of the Government, and have these 
immense contracts to the arbitrary will of the Commissioner ; and 
whether, in view of the manner in which he exercised his power in 
the late awards, in view of the Charles Bogy transaction, and the Bogy 
& Fry transaction, it is not proper that steps be immediately taken 
to guard the public interests, committed, as I believe, most unwisely, 
to his hands. 

Let these awards be promptly set aside and these transactions re- 
ceive the severe condemnation which the enormity of the fraud in- 
volved in each demands, and a substantial advance will have been 
made toward reforming what is very generally, and, I believe, justly 
considered the most corrupt branch of the public service. 

I disclaim having any personal ill will towards Mr. Bogy, and 
if I have been betrayed at any time by professional zeal into making 
too harsh a remark, I regret it very deeply. It has been my sole 
intention fairly but fearlessly to expose what I believed to be the 
most corrupt administration of the Indian Office which has ever dis- 
graced that notorious Department of the Government. 

Again I thank you, gentlemen, for your patience and kindness. 



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